When Elon Musk declared that Tesla was to accept Bitcoin, it was a temporary payment method for cars. However, the move from the EV company created a new opportunity. Adidas, the sportswear company, recently revealed their plans to use blockchain technology. WeB3 Lead Erika Wykes-Sneyd declared that it gave them a “slipstream” to find advocates in the company.
“Elon Musk helped to open that door for us, just a little bit, so we could capture people’s imaginations internally,” Wykes-Sneyd told Decrypt at the NFT Paris conference. Adidas was keen to avoid offering crypto payment options on their products, but this allowed them to explore other possibilities. “We did use it as a slipstream,” she added. “I think those of us that knew, were like, ‘Well, I don’t think just accepting crypto is what it means to get in this space.’”
So, the sportswear giant launched their ambitious program. WeB3 Initiatives included the purchase of their own Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT. They also joined forces with NFT collector, gmoney to drop a multimillion-dollar NFT and partnered with crypto exchanges Coinbase Meta platform, and other services The Sandbox. The company even displayed their products! Bored Ape avatar, Indigo Herz in their World Cup trailer.
Constructing Adidas’ Web3 Strategy
Adidas’ Web3 strategy went beyond blockchain and NFTs. The company is also investigating how to use distributed ledger technology to enhance their supply chain and customer loyalty program. But Wykes-Sneyd said that a successful Web3 strategy requires more than just a “gimmick.”
“It’s not just about the technology,” She stated. “It’s about how you’re intertwining that technology into a product or service that is meaningful to the consumer.”
Wykes-Sneyd added that the company wanted to “look beyond the hype” when delving into blockchain and other Web3 technologies. “We’re looking for ways to improve the consumer experience,” she said. “We’re seeking out avenues to create more meaningful relationships with our customers and our partners.”
class=”font-meta-serif-pro font-normal text-lg sm:text-xl sm:leading-9 tracking-px text-body”>From the start, Wykes-Sneyd had the ambition to “accelerate and implement Web3 to speed up what Adidas wanted to achieve in terms of corporate goals.” This meant a whole lot of planning. She and her team spent nine years developing the concept, “building the foundations, making a lot of connections” before finally introducing it to the market. “By the time we went to market, everyone was quite surprised at how prepared Adidas was. But we had spent the last 10 months working on it,” she explained. “
The company’s future plans include token-controlled sneaker releases and possibly even payments with Apecoin?, the token of the Bored Ape Yacht Club.
As for Tesla, the electric car maker reversed its decision to accept Bitcoin as a payment option a few months after Elon Musk’s much-publicised announcement due to its ecological impact.
Adidas, on the other hand, is fully committed to cryptocurrency and Web3. “Everyone is on board at this point,” said Wykes-Sneyd. “The journey of the last year and a half was to get people across a huge global organisation to be passionate about this.”
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